Employment up
The German Federal Statistical Office and the Federal Employment Agency have announced that 41.61 million German residents were employed in November 2011, up 521,000 from November 2010. The number of registered unemployed stood at 2.780 million in December 2011, down by 231,000 from the previous December. For 2011 as a whole, employment rose by 541,000 over the previous year to 41.09 million. Unemployment dropped to 2.98 million - the lowest level of unemplyment since 1991. From an employment perspective 2011 was by far the most successful year since the reunification of Germany. In addition to employment, the level of earnings per employee increased significantly. But as I blogged previously, demand for labour in Germany is outstripping supply.
Energy consumption down
According to the AGEB ("Arbeitsgemeinschaft Energiebilanzen"), energy consumption in Germany in 2011 fell in spite of an increase in production. Energy consumption was 13,411 petajoules, 4.8 percent below the level of the previous year and the lowest level since 1990. Warmer weather in 2011 was responsible for a strong decrease in the consumption of energies for heating.
As part of the EU 20-20-20 initiative, Germany has committed to reducing energy consumption by 20 percent by 2020 compared to 2008 levels. In 2011, energy consumption was some 5 percent below the reference value, even when weather effects are discounted. Energy efficiency has improved during this period by 2.5 percent per year (or by 2.1 percent per year adjusted for weather effects).
Germany has already announced that it is on track for the other parts of 20-20-20, 20% reduction in carbon emissions and 20% renewable energy by 2020.
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